


a mother's love

by trademaks (orphan_account)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, yay family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-28
Updated: 2016-11-28
Packaged: 2018-09-02 19:44:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8681005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/trademaks
Summary: the scene in dh with narcissa and harry; is draco alive? is he in the castle?





	

**Author's Note:**

> italicized bits taken directly from the dh text

“Is he alive?” the Dark Lord asked, demanded; his voice was deep and hissing, and it grated against Narcissa’s ears, made her spine shiver.

She stalked with false confidence over to the prone figure of the man; boy, really, wasn’t he? That made it all the more sadder. Glancing back at the Dark Lord and his entourage, she crouched next to his head, placing her hand on his chest. It steadily rose and fell; deep breaths along with a powerful heartbeat thrumming against her hand. She leaned closer, her hair falling forwards and providing a curtained partisan from the rest of the world.

Narcissa, contrary to popular belief, was not a stupid witch. In her heart of hearts, she knew what the Dark Lord was doing wasn’t right; he tried to murder an infant, for Merlin’s sake! Perhaps the saddest part was that the Dark Lord kept trying to kill him, even as he was defeated time after time. The Potter boy, hardy as he was, seemingly couldn’t be stopped; this was more apparent by the fact he was still breathing after being hit by the killing curse, breaking his own record for number of killing curses survived in the entire world.

His eyelids flickered with movement, and she saw them open the smallest bit; eyes she knew to be a brilliant green were trained on her, trying to asses what she might do.

She knew that if he were to be declared alive, the Dark Lord would go absolutely berserk, most likely in the same manner as the particularly unfortunate meetings she had the displeasure of attending; meaning, of course, he would lash out in rage at everyone and everything around him with various curses on the illegal side of the spectrum.

Narcissa bent even lower, to try to minimize the chance of being heard. She knew that the Dark Lord would advance onto Hogwarts whether the boy was alive or not, but the quicker option would be, of course, if he were dead. He was not dead. She could only hope her baby was the same.

In the faintest tone she could manage, she began to whisper in his ear. _“Is Draco alive? Is he in the castle?”_

She held her breath. Here it was, all or nothing. If he said her dragon was living, alive, safe in the castle, she would spare his fate, declare him dead to the world. Perhaps that would give him more time to organize some semblance of a plan whilst the ragtag group that called themselves Death Eaters stormed the castle grounds.

_“Yes,” he breathed back._ Narcissa swallowed, blinking away tears that threatened to fall. Gently, she pushed against his chest.

Harry Potter’s eyes were closed; Harry Potter was dead. Harry Potter’s chest was still; Harry Potter was dead. Harry Potter did not move, nor gave any indication that he was not dead, but alive, alive like her son in the castle, unlike the tragic fate of Harry Potter’s family.

“Thank you,” she mouthed.

Narcissa Malfoy suddenly understood everything Lily Potter must have felt when she faced down the Dark Lord; the need for protecting her family was greater than any allegiance she held, greater than her love of charms, and though she loved charms very much, she would always love Draco far more, more than life itself. Lily Potter loved her son more than life itself, and it showed in the way he refused to die, refused to succumb, refused to submit. Narcissa stood slowly, turning around to face them.

_“He is dead!”_ she called; it was time to find Draco.


End file.
